Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette has dropped out of the race for majority whip, leaving South Carolina Rep. James E. Clyburn running unopposed to retain his No. 3 position in Democratic leadership.

“Many of my supporters have expressed concern about pressure they are receiving to return the three senior leaders to their posts without opposition,” DeGette said in a statement. “We have enough work to do without this internal pressure. Therefore, I am withdrawing my bid for Whip at this time.”

Reps. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, left, pictured at the 2016 Democratic National Convention with James Clyburn, D-S.C., is thinking about running for speaker. Clyburn said he’s not discouraged Fudge from running but that he’s still supporting Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

The possibility that Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge might challenge Nancy Pelosi for speaker seems to have some of her colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus torn, despite many saying Thursday they still plan to support Pelosi.

But one notable member of the CBC would not make such a pledge, Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond.

Vangie Williams, the Democratic nominee for Virginia’s 1st District and a mother of six, says her support for paid family leave comes from her experience balancing work while caring for a sick daughter and returning to work shortly after childbirth. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Vangie Williams, a mother of six, was facing foreclosure and a pile of medical bills for her 2-year-old daughter’s rare lung condition when she wrote to her congressman. She wanted help. But she got a form letter, she recalled.

The experience was one of many that convinced the Virginia Democrat several years later to challenge 1st District Republican Rep. Rob Wittman on a platform that includes paid leave so families caring for sick relatives can avoid some of the impossible financial decisions that she faced. She and her husband ended up tapping out their retirement accounts and losing their home, she said.

Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, has a word with Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., after he tagged her out at home plate during the 57th annual Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park on June 14, 2018. The Democrats prevailed 21-5. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

The Congressional Baseball Game has gotten so big that they had to find new ways to give away the money.

With her game day hair already set, Jalina Porter would make a morning pit stop in Chinatown to drop off her uniform and makeup, and then head straight to the Capitol for a full day of work. By nightfall she’d be back at the stadium to cheer for the Washington Wizards until almost 11 p.m.

She balanced being a Wizards cheerleader with working as a press and staff assistant for Rep. Jerry McNerney of California. Now she’s communications director for Louisiana Democratic Rep. Cedric L. Richmond.

House Rules member Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., thinks Democrats should wait until after the midterms to discuss a rules package. (Al Drago/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Revisiting the House rules is a normal task lawmakers undertake every other fall, but this year, several members are uneasy about beginning that process ahead of a midterm cycle in which the chamber majority could change hands.

Some Democrats don’t want to get over their skis by preparing a rules package that their party will only have power to implement if they take control of the House in November.

Jackson Corbin testifies about his reliance on affordable healthcare on the fourth day of Brett Kavanaugh's hearing before members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building Friday Sept. 7, 2018. (Sarah Silbiger/CQ Roll Call)

As the Senate continues its processing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, it does so in the shadow of the last day of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing, with strikingly different depictions of the appeals court judge on display.

Democrats brought a series of emotional witnesses to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday to sound more warnings about what Kavanaugh would mean for the country’s legal landscape, while witnesses invited by Republicans gave straightforward descriptions of an appeals court judge with the credentials to join the high court.

Sen. Kamala Harris, a potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said Friday she was not satisfied with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s answers this week when she asked him about his use of a term she dubbed a racial “dog whistle.”

During a Senate Judiciary confirmation session Friday with legal experts and other witnesses, the California Democrat returned to a line of questioning she had with the federal appellate judge on Wednesday. During the first full day of questioning Kavanaugh, she asked him to explain why he, in an op-ed, once used the term “racial spoils system.”